Leica 90mm Summicron 3rd version

[maxofrome]

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Is one year that I have in my hand this wonderful lens. From the serial number seems to be late 95. Now, everyone can thins that Leica lens are overpriced but this lens on my M9 perform great!. Before own it I deeply read the description done by Erwin Puts and Ken Rockwell and I must only agree with them. For me is a good lens. Probably the 4th version is much better but is too is not affordable to me.

 

Leica M 90mm Pre ASPH (1980-1998) | massimilianotiberi

 

What's your impression?

[lct]

My favorite 90 for portrait with the pre-apo R 90/2. The asph is sharper at f/2 but i would never use it to shoot my mother in law. Might be difficult to focus if it is not calibrated for digital Ms though.

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[de-JTC]

I totally agree - the 90mm Summicron pre-asph is a spectacular lens!

It has a beautiful rendition for portraits, it is plenty sharp and has a very special clarity in its look. Also the transition-zone that is critical with most lenses looks really beatiful.

[tpkoester]

I have one built during the early 80ies. I find it hard to focus at some times - which might be related to my eyes or my talent. But if I hit the sweet spot it is one of the best lenses I ever used.

[maxofrome]

About focusing, I also have often the same problem. At the beginning I was thinking it was due to the lens, but it was me! At f/2 to catch the focus sometime is hard

[de-JTC]

Focusing at f2 is hard - that's right.

When working at a close distance I try setting the focus and moving the camera - that is much easier sometimes, especially with portraits.

[tobey bilek]

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What is missing is micro contrast at least in the close range. This gives portrait skin tones a very smooth, almost soft focus appearance. This lack of ultimate sharpness under 6 feet was acknowledged by Leica at the time and the APO 90 exhibits it also. A floating element is the cure such as found in the 75 APO or a more symmetrical design such as 90 macro current.

 

I keep mine for portraits or if I expect to need a fast lens in low light. Overall, my 75 APO is a better lens or the 90 macro for close and far.

 

It is hard to focus on digital as are all lenses over 50 mm on digital. Why they sell the 1.4 magnifier? It was never hard to focus on my M6 or earlier cameras.

[lct]

...It is hard to focus on digital as are all lenses over 50 mm on digital...

Not on the M240 i must say.

No problem with my 75/2, 90/4 macro, 90/2.8 v2 and 90/2 asph at least.

Some pre-digital lenses might need some calibration though.

Never tried the 90/1 though.

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[maxofrome]

in term of sharpness I find the lens really good, The shot I attach was done with the Mono and unfortunatly the raw file does not report the aperture, but shall be f/4 or f/5.6.

I must admit that with the Mono this lens perform better than with the M9, and probably is normal ...

 

with the M9 the colors are stunning (the 2nd shot is at f/2.4, ISO320)

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Edited August 14, 2013 by maxofrome

[Stefan Herzberg]

The following pics have been shot with the MM at 10.000 ISO yesterday at a festival in Kyushu, Japan (unprocessed). Aperture not recorded, I always try to avoid full aperture.Focussing with the 1,4 magnifier. I own the lens since 1989 and it still holds up very well against the modern asph lenses (35/50) I recently bought.

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